Phoenix breaks heat record set in 1974
On Tuesday, Phoenix reached a miserable milestone: It was the first time the city had measured 19 days in a row of 110-degree or more temperatures, breaking a record set in 1974. “Record Broken,” the National Weather Service posted on Twitter. “As of 11:59 AM MST, Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport has reached 110°F.” People in the Southwest are used to brutal summers. Phoenix has had plenty of days that soar past 100 degrees. But this summer is testing even the hardiest, and putting many more people at risk. The city set another heat record Monday: eight consecutive days in which the overnight temperature never dipped below 90 degrees.
Illinois Supreme Court upholds measure designed to end cash bail
The Illinois Supreme Court upheld a measure Tuesday eliminating cash bail in the state, finding that Democratic legislators acted properly when they passed the law, which will transform the Illinois criminal justice system and limit judges’ ability to hold defendants in jail before trial. The Illinois law was part of a national push to reduce jail populations and end a system in which wealth can determine whether a defendant returns home to await trial. It infuriated many county prosecutors and sheriffs, who asserted that the law made the state less safe. In its ruling Tuesday, the state Supreme Court said cash bail would end in Illinois on Sept. 18.
Biden, caught in political crosscurrents, navigates U.S.-Israel relationship
Since taking office, President Joe Biden has struggled to navigate one of the most complicated periods of diplomatic tension between the United States and Israel, often by distancing himself from voices at the extremes. His effort has become more difficult in recent days as he finds himself in the crosscurrents from Republicans, members of his own party and rising unrest in Israel. On Tuesday, Biden sought to showcase the ties that bind the two governments by hosting Isaac Herzog, Israel’s mostly ceremonial president, for a meeting in the Oval Office. Noting that Israel was celebrating 75 years of existence, Biden called the relationship between the two countries “simply unbreakable.”
Judge’s rebuke of
New York City
signals potential of
Rikers takeover
A day after the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan called for New York City’s jails to be taken over by an outside authority, the judge who would make the decision expressed disapproval of the city’s management of Rikers Island and other lockups. Judge Laura Taylor Swain wrote Tuesday that the administration of Mayor Eric Adams had failed to “address the dangerous conditions that perpetually plague the jails and imperil those who are confined and who work there.” Her statement underscored the growing likelihood that the city could lose at least some control over the jails. Any such loss would be a stain on the administration of Mayor Eric Adams.
Protesters rally across Israel in new push against
legal overhaul
Tens of thousands of Israelis held dozens of rallies across central Israel Tuesday to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to finalize a law next week that would limit the power of the Supreme Court. In the latest weekly episode of disruption, demonstrators marched through several cities in a renewed effort to stop the government from proceeding with a binding vote on the law in parliament, which is likely Monday. Protesters fear the proposed law would undermine democracy and pave the way toward a more conservative, religious and patriarchal society. Netanyahu’s government says the plan would improve democracy by making elected lawmakers less beholden to unelected judges.
Heat waves grip 3 continents as climate change warms Earth
Punishing heat waves gripped three continents Tuesday, breaking records in cities around the Northern Hemisphere less than two weeks after the Earth recorded what scientists said were likely its hottest days in modern history. Firefighters in Greece scrambled to put out wildfires and Beijing logged another day of 95-degree heat. From the Middle East to the American Southwest, work crews labored under blistering skies. Those who could stay indoors did. The temperatures, afflicting so much of the world at once, were a withering reminder that climate change is a global crisis, driven by human-made forces: the emissions of heat-trapping gases, mainly caused by the burning of fossil fuels.
Barge to house asylum-seekers meets several shades of anger in U.K.
It was a rough reception Tuesday for the Bibby Stockholm, a hulking metal barge intended to house up to 500 asylum-seekers, as it pulled into its berth in Portland, on England’s southern coast. Protesters holding signs reading “No to the barge” and “No floating prison” gathered at the dock. While there were divided political opinions on display — some denouncing the planned living conditions and advocating refugee rights, others protesting the imminent arrival of migrants — demonstrators were united in wanting the barge gone. It will be docked for at least 18 months, according to the government, and will eventually house adult male asylum-seekers. Arrivals could begin this month.
By wire sources
